


50+ Pilots Drabbles (PG-13)

by callmeonetrack



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-18
Updated: 2017-01-18
Packaged: 2018-09-18 08:07:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9375836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callmeonetrack/pseuds/callmeonetrack
Summary: Soooo many drabbles and short ficlets! All under 500 words, all pilots.(Plus one bonus crackfic Racetrack drabble.)





	

**_One Hand, One Heart_ **

They have a ritual.

Neither would call it that, of course, because the things they don’t say could fill a battlestar—or maybe all the ships in the Fleet—but unmistakably that’s what it is. It’s a symbol. A tradition. A promise.

They don’t do it all the time, not even very often really, but when things get especially FUBAR and there is need for a touchstone, it happens.

Sometimes he reaches first, sometimes she does. That part’s not important. What matters is the fold of his fingers steady and strong over hers, the way her thumb brushes across the delicate skin on the back of his hand. There is a strength, a currency, in the way they grasp each other.

Sometimes it comes with accompaniments, their full names spoken aloud with honor, with reverence. Sometimes, when their palms are flush and fingers locked but they can still feel their grip slipping, it’s followed by a hug.

Sometimes it means “I’m sorry.”

Sometimes it means “I’m proud of you.”

Sometimes it might even mean “I love you.”

Always it means “Come back to me.”

It’s something to hold on to.

 

**_After the Dance_ **

After everyone leaves the dance, leaves them alone (guess it’s just you and me, now), Kara lies on the mat and breathes. She’s bruised and bloody and her nose is definitely broken, but something’s mended beneath skin and bones. 

She can feel Lee lying next to her, his body heat or just his presence making her own blood hum. Gods, she missed this feeling. The night on New Caprica replays in her head. She needs him still. Loves him still, too. That hasn’t changed. She’s pretty sure it never will. 

Their baggage has though. Sam and Dee have replaced Zak and duty, but it was always easy to push the other stuff aside when it really counted.

Tonight, it counts. 

So she rolls over, careful and slow. Lee’s lying still, his chest rising and falling. His arm curves around her waist as she covers him, presses her lips to his skin. She starts at his temple. It’s sweat-slicked and bloody, but so is her mouth. Lips and tongue and teeth ghost tenderly over the places that hurt--the ones she can reach anyway. She kisses every wound, every scrape and cut, every darkening shadow where her fists kissed him first. 

It’s not quite an apology, nor an absolution, but it’s a start. 

 

**_Lee on Earth_ **

On his eighth day on the new planet, it rained. He’d been halfway up a mountain when it started and he scrambled under a ledge that provided little protection from the deluge. Lee watched as the dark sky cracked open, rain pounding down on verdant soil, thunder rumbling in the distance, lightning illuminating the far hills. 

He hadn’t felt the rain since…Kobol. It felt much longer than the few years it had been. Lee had forgotten how much he’d missed it. 

But then again, he had plenty to miss these days. Lee thought of them often—the Agathons and the Tighs and Galen Tyrol and even Gaius frakking Baltar. Most of all he thought of his father, undoubtedly alone now. Lee wondered how long Roslin had stayed—if they’d gotten to build that cabin. He tried not to feel bitter. It had become his sole companion, an almost tangible presence, like a constant ringing in his ear. On the worst days, he imagined he heard a familiar mocking voice asking him how it felt after all, this bright shiny future she’d left him. 

For the first time in eight days, he let himself think of her. Let himself think of all of it, every step they’d taken, forward and back, together and apart. He lifted his head to the sky. The water coursed down his cheeks, over his beard-roughened jaw, spilling over, soaking through to skin. Every drop felt like blessed absolution. 

Eventually, the heart of the storm passed, the violent downpour turning into a gentle patter. Rays of sun broke through darker clouds, leaving a shimmering halo behind. The whipping wind transformed into a softer breeze and as it rushed by his ear, Lee smiled. It sounded like a question. 

“Nothing but the rain, Kara. Nothing but the rain.” 

 

**_Follow Her Down_ **

Unlike the newer ships of the Colonial Fleet, Galactica’s CIC has no real monitors, just dradis screens. Without them, every battle, every casualty, is an auditory experience only. 

Until the maelstrom. 

That day there is more to hear than usual. 

There is Starbuck’s oddly wavering voice saying goodbye. 

There is Apollo’s panicked tone as he calls out for Kara again and again. 

There is a bang followed by a scream, and shortly after...another bang. 

Total silence. 

And then, finally, there is something to see: the Admiral, falling to his knees, sobbing as he realizes all his children are dead now. 

 

_**The Return** _

She lands and he lands, and he runs, shoving heedlessly through the crowded deck until he can sweep her up, arms locked around Kara.

His heart races, he can’t breathe. He presses his lips to her neck, the kiss hidden by the curtain of her hair, longer now than the last time he saw her. 

When she died. 

Lee doesn’t care that this defies the laws of nature. He doesn’t care that she’s a cylon. He doesn’t care about anything but the feel of her body fitting to his, her pulse throbbing against his cheek.

 _Alive_ , his heart sings. Alive. 

 

_**Lifeline** _

“You can let go, you know.” There’s laughter and a hint of frustration in her voice.

“Not a chance.” 

Kara sighs, the sound familiar. “I’m not going to disappear, Lee.” 

He wants to shout that she doesn’t know that. That she always does, when he lets his attention falter. But he just tightens his grip.

Lee’s been clutching one of the limp sleeves of her rucked-down flight suit since the marine escorts came. His fingers are cramping now, but he can’t let go. 

Not until she sighs again, but reaches for his hand, threading her fingers with his and squeezing. 

 

**_Top Gun_ **

Three-quarters of the way through the long, incredibly boring double CAP shift they were flying, Apollo realized suddenly that Starbuck's viper was gone.

He clicked on the radio, a foreboding feeling making him terse. “Starbuck, Apollo. Report.”

No response.

A host of unpleasant possibilities flooding his brain. “Starbuck. Do you copy?” Nothing. “STARBUCK!” Silence. Lee sighed, swallowing hard. “Kara? Are you--”

His words stopped as a shadow darkened his cockpit. Lee looked up, and there she was, upside-down, smirking.

“What’s the problem, Apollo?” Her throaty laughter echoed through the staticky comm. “You usually like it when I’m on top!”

 

**_Teacher's Pet_ **

“Anyone care to tell me what the FRAK THAT WAS OUT THERE?!” Starbuck thundered from the podium, scowling angrily even as her chest swelled with pride. They were coming along. She might make real pilots out of ‘em yet.

“This isn’t your frakking third-grade dance recital, boys and girls! One wrong move and your ass is dust! Launch again in 30.” 

She sauntered over to the hatch, where Lee was shaking his head, smirking. 

“Harsh, Starbuck, Harsh.”

“Not like I broke out the paddle.” She shrugged.

His eyebrows rose. “You have a paddle?”

Kara winked. “Wanna be teacher’s pet, Apollo?”

 

**_Undertow_ **

Inexplicably, Kara was eating a pomegranate. 

He could've wondered where she had gotten it, asked why she was in his rack, shooed her away. 

He could've.... 

But he didn't. 

The tips of her fingers and tongue were blood-red, her lips a deep ruby. She dug into the fleshy heart, juice dripping everywhere as she scooped up seeds and dropped them into her mouth. Kara's eyes closed, her face rippling as she chewed then smoothing into bliss. 

Lee was transfixed. 

"Is it sweet?" he breathed. 

She grinned, dragged him down into his rack, and let him taste for himself. 

He didn't look back. 

_**_Winning Strategy_ ** _

They spend the first three weeks after the world ends dancing around each other. She flies CAP on his wing, checks him out furtively in the showers, blows smoke in his face over the triad table and steals all his cubits  
Or maybe he just lets her.

This thing with Lee, it's just another bluff, and somehow she never expects him to call her on it.

And then he does.

A taunt and a wink and he grabs her arm, pulls her up, away from the game as their fellow pilots oooh and ahh, and frogmarches her toward the racks. Kara's too busy marveling at the fact that Lee is finally losing some of that iron-clad control to even think of struggling. As soon as the hatch clangs behind her, he's pushing her up against the cold medal, crowding her, completely in her face. She waits for his angry words, her nerves sparking with anticipation and restless energy.

"Kara," he breathes, his voice like gravel, "We can't keep doing this. You're driving me frakking insane!" He leans closer, licking his lips, and she can feel his breath on her skin. "Do you want me or not?" 

She freezes. All Kara knows, all she can think, is that she can't kiss him first because that would give far too much away. She blinks, holds his eyes, and waits him out. And then Lee folds, brushing his lips against hers, softly and then harder, with purpose. 

She smiles into his kiss and thinks _Victory_.

 

**_The Good Student_ **

Pyramid has never been Lee's sport. To be honest, _sports_ have never been Lee's sport. 

But when his best friend eggs him onto the Academy court, promising to teach him the rules so he can join the new pickup team she's captaining, he goes willingly. He'd prefer a different kind of one-on-one with Kara, but if this is what she's offering...

To his surprise, she's a patient teacher. Kara spends an hour on basic drills and explaining the complicated point system before they even start to play the actual game. And after Kara tackles him to the ground, her hips pressing his down, her breasts flattened against his chest, as she grins in his face, Lee has an entirely new appreciation of Pyramid. 

"So," he says, breathless, and half-witless too. "I never realized Pyramid was such a full-contact sport." 

"Oh, it can be" Kara tosses off cheerfully as she gets off him and pulls him to his feet, her hand squeezing his. Her eyes sparkle and she bites her lip, her voice dropping to a sultry whisper. "If you do it right."

Lee fervently hopes she means that as the double entendre he's hearing it to be. He grins and leans closer, his lips a fraction from hers. "Well, Captain, I think I'm gonna need a lot more practice."

 

**_Cheesy Goodness_ **

"How can you eat that crap?"

"What?" Kara says, looking over at him from his bed where she's stretched out. Lee hopes she's not getting his sheets dirty. The dorm's laundry room is always packed on the weekend. "This here is the food of the Gods, Leland!" She rattles the bag of day-glo orange cheese puffs at him.

"It's full of junk, preservatives and dye and all kinds of crap."

She narrows her eyes, one brow quirking suspiciously. "Uh huh, and have you ever actually partaken of this amazing delicacy, Mr. Food Police?"

Lee rolls his eyes and looks back to his textbook. "No. I might as well eat this astrophysics primer for all the nutritional value."

He hears footsteps, then Kara's leaning over him, orange-tipped fingers waving right under his nose. She slides one into her mouth and makes an ostentatious show of sucking it clean.

The ridiculous theatrics don't, however, prevent the blood from rushing out of his brain and directly to his dick at the sight of it.

His breathing is suddenly heavy, his mouth parted, and Kara skims her glance down to his lap, her eyes widening. Then she holds up her hand to his face, fingers wiggling, and she winks, "Wanna taste?"

 

**_Then and Now_ **

She can't remember their first kiss. Oh, she knows where and when it happened, of course. She remembers lying on the table, feeling the wood under her back, the heat of a candle close--too close--to her head, the smooth cloth of his pants sliding against hers as he climbed up and over her, the fleeting brush of his fingers across her palm. But she doesn't remember the feel of his lips pressing hers, or the sounds their mouths made, or the way his tongue twined with hers--though she thinks about it, more than she'd like, more than she should. Memory is a cruel mistress these days, because she remembers the taste of him, the heady notes of rich wine and the mild tang of chewing gum, haunting her, taunting her when she least expects it. Worse still, leaving her hopeful. She fears the next kiss will never come.

She remembers their last kiss, of course. Though she doesn't know where or when it happened. Time has become... insubstantial. She comes and she goes and each time, he is there, holding her hand, lines and spots dotting fingers that are twined together more tightly than they ever did when the skin was unmarked. Sometimes he drops a kiss against a temple, presses soft lips to the center of her forehead. Sometimes his mouth is warm, his lips part, his tongue twines with hers, hands rising to cup her face as he always liked to do. Memory is a trick of the light these days, but she remembers the taste of him, that combination of wine and chewing gum, though it must be years since he's partaken of either. Better still, she is hopeful. She knows the next kiss is only ever moments away.

 

**_Color Moving and Still_ **

Three days after Zak's plane blows up, Lee ends up on Kara's doorstep. The funeral is tomorrow, but he couldn't wait any longer. He needs to see how she is. He needs to see her.

Lee knocks twice but there's no answer, which probably serves him right. Should've called first. He's about to turn away, resigned to just seeing her at the service tomorrow, but on a whim he tries the door handle. It's not locked.

"Kara," he calls as he walks down the steps. No answer. Lee's head is lost in thought and he gets almost to the bottom before he stops, looks up at the wall. The last time he was here, the plaster was painted beige, a few abstract paintings framed and hung there. But now there's a riot of color and words in front of him. The scrawled, slanted handwriting is messy, thick black strokes obscured by dots of other colors in some places. He reads quickly, a faint tinge of embarassment coloring his skin at the words. It's not lewd or suggestive, but it's...intimate. Kara's feelings for his brother etched indelibly for the world to see. It stings for more than one reason, and he wishes he hadn't.

Lee's eyes skim over instead to the huge sphere of color next to it, red and yellow concentric circles with a spot of blue at its center. It reminds him of fire and motion and chaos... and Kara, as surely as if it bore her signature. 

He swallows and turns away from this transparent canvas, this neon testament to love and pain, and that's when he sees her. Kara is asleep on the couch, knees curled to her chest. Her legs are bare, a shirt of Zak's dwarfing her, and paint covering her from head to toe. She looks so much older than he last saw her (Gods could it have only been three weeks ago?), her face peaceful in repose but pale with dark shadows ringing her eyes. 

He freezes, knowing he should probably just let himself out and lock the door behind him. But he's not ready to go yet. So, he sits in the armchair in the corner and just watches Kara sleep. 

Lee has long thought the Lords of Kobol were nothing more than myth, stories clung to by those in need of comfort. But tonight, he is one of their number, so he whispers a vow and a prayer into the darkness. 

Lee promises his brother that he'll keep her safe, and prays that the Gods will let him.

 

**_No Return Address_ **

Kara takes a raptor up to the Galactica two days after she marries Sam. She packs slow, struggling to accept she won’t be back here ever again.

Tells herself she made her choice.

But when she reaches out to close her locker, her eyes snag on the photo there.

Seeing Lee again is like a sucker punch to the gut and Kara can’t breathe. She makes herself take it, memorizing his face as long as she dares, then rips the photo messily.

She seals him in an envelope, marks it for the Pegasus, _Attn: Anastasia Adama_.

Dee won’t mind sloppy seconds.

 

**_Kindred Spirits_ **

At fifteen, they meet at Caprica’s worst juvenile detention center. It’s not Kara’s first rodeo, but Lee’s different. He doesn’t brag or posture, barely talks at all. There’s a look in his eyes, a sadness that makes Kara shiver.

Some jackass keeps harassing him. Kara throws a punch. He smiles. That’s all it takes.

They make it through the days thanks to her quick fists and his clever thinking. They slip into corners unnoticed, and he tells her finally, what he did to protect his little brother.

At night, she dreams they’ll run away, through grassy fields under starry skies.

 

**_Beyond Insane_ **

“Is it true?”

“Is what true?” He sighs at her tone, belligerent and begging for a fight. Lee knows she’s just cranky and restless from being stuck in sickbay. He tries to have patience.

“Chief said you used half the fuel reserves running S&Rs on that frakking moon!” Her eyes flash, furious. “What the hell were you thinking, Lee? Pulling the damn CAP!? It’s beyond insane.”

He stares at her for a long moment, then reaches out and curls his hand around hers. “What do you want me to say, Kara?” Lee shrugs, smiles. “Love makes you do crazy things.”

 

**_My Compass_ **

Every FTL jump makes the music fade faster.

Kara screams herself hoarse. “We’re going the wrong way!!” She collapses on the brig floor. No one comes, no one believes her. Defeated, she closes her eyes.

But then suddenly he’s there, smoothing her hair again, wiping her tears. Lee’s body cradles hers, rocking like she’s a child.

“What about your journey?” she croaks. “Destiny. The quorum.”

He shakes his head. “Couldn’t get on the shuttle. If I have a destiny, it’s here, with you.” Lee smiles crookedly. “I’m a frakking idiot.”

She laughs into his chest. “I could’ve told you that.”

 

**_This Dance We Do_ **

In the ring, it’s just the two of them.

Guess it’s just you and me, then.

They dance for a long time, then Kara feels him start to hesitate. He’s pulling his punches and giving her time to recover when one lands. She doesn’t want that.

She wants it to hurt. She wants it to burn.

Inside and out.

“How’s the wife, Lee?”

His jaw tenses.

“So, she ever wonder—”

“Shut up!” He snarls. Kara’s pulse races.

“-why the Pegasus commander flew all them donut runs down to New Caprica?"

He swings, connects, solid. Kara spits blood and grins.

 

**_The Call_ **

Lee gets the call in the middle of a trial—an important one, but he can’t stay.

On the shuttle to Galactica, his leg shakes till they dock. Feet pounding, he’s off and running. Finally he gets there, rips open the hatch and… promptly trips over a crate, knocking himself unconscious.

When he comes to and staggers to his destination, Kara’s shaking her head. She’s hot, sweaty, more beautiful than he’s ever seen her. “Took you long enough, Lee.”

She beams down at the pink-swaddled bundle in her arms.

“Guess it’s a good thing we didn’t need Daddy anyway, huh?”

 

**_Happy_ **

When his father’s raptor disappears from view, Kara turns to Lee, studying him with concern. She steps closer, threading her fingers through his.

He looks down at their hands, surprised somehow, then back to Kara. She smiles softly. “Guess it’s just you and me, now.”

They lay the last bit of roof on their log cabin as thunder rumbles in the sky. 

Later, the storm wakes him. He looks down at Kara, asleep in his arms, and his heart swells.

Lee misses his dad, regrets many things. But he’s happy.

He lays awake, listening to the sound of the rain. 

 

**_Stumbling_ **

He looks at Earth, ruined and ravaged, and hears her voice: “We’ll walk those halls together.”

But she’s gone, off with the cylon.

Apollo brushes past his wife, stumbles onto a raptor back to Galactica. It’s not his ship anymore but he doesn’t want Colonial One now.

He walks blindly to the pilots bunkroom, waving off questions about the planet from his former crew. He falls onto Kara’s rack, and closes the curtain.

Lee sleeps and sees midnight skies and constellations, green grass and moonlit smiles.

When she finally climbs in, he slips his arms around her.

They’ll dream together.

 

**_Not So Complicated_ **

Kara wakes up, blinking in the sunlight. She hears a soft, steady thump in her head. A heartbeat, not her own.

There’s warm skin against her cheek. Suddenly she remembers where she is, who she’s with.

What they did.

The knowledge staggers her, and Kara can’t move. She doesn’t want to move, but she should. It’s dangerous to stay.

But she feels safe.

They did this before, when they nearly died laughing in the gun range thanks to that cylon virus. When things weren’t so complicated. She misses those days.

She misses them.

She shifts. He wakes.

“Stay.”

She does.

 

**_Wise Counsel_ **

Kara huddles in her coat, watching Lee as he pushes a saw through another log.

Their cabin’s only half built and they’re trying to finish before the weather turns even more bitter on New Caprica. Before the baby comes.

It’s a hard life, but Kara wouldn’t trade it for all the worlds. Each time Lee smiles, brighter and easier than she’s ever seen, even back before Zak died, she’s grateful.

The fact that it’s all thanks to Tigh’s advice— _If you love the boy, go find him and don’t ever frakking let go!_ —still blows her mind.

 

_**Marked**_

Lee can’t remember ever feeling this happy. They’ve reached the end of the line, together. They deserve that bright shiny future and now they can have it.

He whirls, giddy with possibility.

She’s gone.

Vanished.

The weight of it staggers him to his knees in the field.

Something gleams in the dirt. The brass figurine of aurora. He picks it up, stares for ages, a lump in his throat. Finally he can’t look anymore. Lee starts to shove it in his pocket when he sees the markings. He can barely make out the pin-scratched letters:

 _Kara Thrace Loves Lee Adama_.

 

_**Eavesdropping**_

Kat tosses and turns, stewing about how she kept coming in hot, busting her landing.

A noise interrupts her brooding. A moan. A very loud moan.

A very loud moan of the CAG’s name.

Speaking of coming in hot.

Well, good for Apollo. Starbuck’s always saying he needs to get laid.

Kat twitches her curtain for a visual, but his is closed. Whoever this chick is, she ain’t quiet. Keeps purring— _Lee, oh Leeee_ —all soft and breathy, full of awe. Probably some pilot groupie.

She almost falls out of her rack when Captain Adama suddenly purrs back: _Ohhh, Kara_.

 

_**Zombie Apocalypse**_

Lee Adama was not a religious man. Still he’d prayed every day of the six months since her ship exploded for her return.

He never could have imagined it like this: staggering out of high weeds towards him on destroyed Earth, her rotted flesh sagging, black hollows for eyes, bloodied mouth gaping.

Lee’s eyes widen as he takes her in, blood racing…and his heart lifts. Kara’s returned!

She limps closer, presses her stinking corpse to his dress blues.

When she sinks her teeth into his neck, Lee sighs.

It’s the kiss he’s been waiting for.

 

_**Wake-Up Call**_

After they rescue Cally and Chief from the launch tube, Kara and Lee walk silently back towards quarters. They haven’t really talked since the affair ended. Suddenly she grabs him, frog-marches him into a closet.

“Ow! What the frak, Kara?!”

“What if that had been us?” she demands.

He blinks. “What?”

“That could have been us, one frakking button push away from taking a spacewalk, Lee!”

Her body quivers, and Lee thinks it’s with rage, until he looks into Kara’s eyes. He pulls her close, wraps his arms around her, kisses her forehead.

The next day they file for divorces. 

 

_**Sisterly Love**_

Kara hates Lee’s new girlfriend.

Laura plays the giggling schoolteacher, but beneath all that hair, she’s calculating. Not right for Lee.

She decides to help him out.

At the bar that night, she grits her teeth as Laura coos about her “Captain Apollo.” Finally, the boys hit the head.

“Lee’s the best, huh?”

Laura nods.

“I’m practically his sister,” Kara grins. “Apollo had a sister, you know. In the myths? Artemis really loved her brother,” she winked. “If you know what I mean.” Then she suggests Laura join her and her boys for some “quality time.”

She’s gone by dessert.

 

_**The Long and Short of It**_

As Kara’s stretcher rolls away, Lee makes a decision.

He’s done waiting.

Except he’s not, because she takes her sweet time getting out of sickbay. He’s practically given up hope when she thumps onto the hangar.

After the raider, she needs a shower, so he helps her to the head, holds her crutches while she strips. Tries not to look as she showers, but he’s not that strong.

When she comes out, her eyes drop to his lap. Busted.

She smirks, “Gee, Apollo, how long’s it been?”

“Too long,” He grabs her waist, kisses her, walks her back into the shower. 

 

_**Payback**_

The storm beyond the canopy swirls thickly. Kara can feel the cold air of space, like fingers on her skin, rifling her hair, despite the helmet and flightsuit. She’s floating, weightless, sinking.

She hears him.

“Starbuck, damnnit! Report!”

Then a broken sob.

“I need you! Kara, come back.”

She wants to, but... “I can’t. I’m hit, Lee.”

“I’m coming to get you. Hold still!”

Later, he’ll joke he was just returning the favor, albeit overdue, but he’ll pull her closer, kiss her softer, stay wrapped around her all night, and she’ll hear what he didn’t say.

_Lee Adama Loves Kara Thrace._

 

_**A Vote of Confidence**_

Kara stands in the shower on shaking legs. It’s been five days since the worlds ended.

She looks over to Lee, three showerheads over, body angled away from her. He’s leaning heavily, one hand against the wall.

She remembers their fight on the hangar deck with a guilty twinge.

His muscled back sags. He looks exhausted.

He looks good.

It’s a frakking rookie move to stare in the showers, but she does anyway.

He turns, catches her eyes, raises a brow.

“I’m sorry, Lee. I was wrong.”

Her eyes drop.

“You definitely have a big enough dipstick for the job.”

 

_**Make it Better**_

“Your finger’s crooked.”

“What?”

Lee holds his hand up next to hers. The tip of her middle finger slants to the left; his is straight.

Her blood runs cold and Kara snatches her hand back. She reaches for the curtain, but his arm circles her waist, hauling her back against his bare chest.

“You promised,” he breathes in her ear. “No more secrets.”

She cringes, but he’s right. She’d whispered the vow into his skin after Lee cheated death twice at Ragnor.

Kara’s never told anyone. Not even Zak.

When she finishes, he kisses each finger.

It makes it better.

 

_**A Home of Our Own**_

On the planet they come to call Earth, the soil is dense and rocky. Helo and Sharon get the first house. Fleet and civilians and cylons alike lend a hand.

It’s nice, but after a few weeks Kara gets restless. She and Lee slip away at dawn, wander until they find the perfect spot. The work’s harder with just the two of them, but then, they always liked it that way.

Under the stars, he lays her down in their future home, makes love to her slowly, holds her close until morning. The soil of a new world welcomes them.

 

_**Cleanliness is Next to Godliness**_

The stims were still buzzing through Kara when the hatch clanged. In stalked Apollo, his expression more befitting Ares than the deity of sunlight and music. Her eyes lingered on the clenched muscle in his jaw, the popped cords of tension in his biceps. Droplets still clung to the sculpted, towel-clad body.

He was furious, complaining. “…and my father told me they frakking look like us now!”

A smirk formed unbidden.

“You think that’s funny, lieutenant?”

“Nope.”

“Then what!?”

She stepped closer, pulled away the towel. Let her eyes travel down slowly.

“Trust me, Apollo, they don’t look like you.”

 

 _**Everyone’s a Suspect**_

He’s not sure when he starts to notice in earnest, but suddenly Lee can’t stop watching and cataloguing them. The brush of his hand on Kara’s shoulder as they pass in the halls. A food fight in the mess as she wastes half her ration of reconstituted eggs by stuffing it down his pants. Her shrieking with laughter as he snaps a towel at her ass in the head. His arm snaking around her waist, his white scalp resting intimately on her stomach after she walks into the rec.

By Colonial Day, he’s positive she’s frakking Crashdown.

Imagine his surprise.

 

_**Shop Till You Drop**_

Kara drags Lee to every store in Delphi searching for Zak’s birthday gift. Nothing’s right. He’s about to beg off when she approaches one last store. His eyes widen. Of course, he lets her lead him into the lingerie shop.

“OK, whadda ya think?” 

She’s wearing red. Lace and satin and he closes his eyes, shakes his head no.

Two minutes later, “What about this?” Black this time. Leather and straps.

“Kara, Zak will love you in anything. I-I gotta go,” he turns. But she stops him, eyes dark, and leans in, close enough to kiss.

“They’re not for Zak.”

 

**_The Confession_ **

They land, their birds still locked together, and Kara can't believe she pulled it off. She stumbles out of the cockpit, still slightly dizzy from impact and rips off her helmet and metal collar dropping them to the deck.

"Sir," Cally's calling after her, probably waving her clipboard with the post-flight checklist in the air, but Kara's already moving, crossing the dozen steps or so to Lee's cockpit in just a few strides. He's just pulling himself up and out of the cockpit, one leg still in the air, when she crashes right into him and pushes him back against the bird. 

"Ka-" His confused exclamation is cut off, smothered, as Kara grasps his jaw in both hands and crushes her mouth to his. It's a long, deep kiss, and Kara pours everything into it that she didn't say before, the first time he came back from the dead, when he smiled down at her and pulled her out from under her viper and his thumb stroked the soft skin on the back of her hand. 

Lee's arms are around her now, holding her tightly, and his mouth is open, his tongue rubbing hers with a hunger and abandon that matches her own.

Around them cheers and wolf whistles emanate from the deck crew, who are no doubt gawking at this little display, but Kara doesn't care. She'd thought she was going to lose him again. It's been two years since she's seen him, but in the last few hours, it's become crystal clear to her that Lee is the one thing in her life she can't bear to lose. 

Or maybe he always was. 

Regardless, it's a new universe and the old rules don't apply. So Kara kisses him and kisses him and kisses him, and only pulls back when she's good and ready. They're both panting, and Lee's grinning, despite the confusion in his eyes. 

Kara just tilts her head and grins back as she confesses, "I've been waiting most of the afternoon to do that, too." 

 

**_Good to be Wrong_ **

They stand like that, wrapped together in the middle of Galactica's brig, until the marine guard bangs against the bars. "Five minutes, Mr. Adama." 

The unfamiliar salutation abruptly reminds Lee of what he already gave up. And Kara's face, her lips trembling with the effort of holding back tears, remind him of what he'll be giving up if he goes now. 

Lee tries to let go...and can't. Literally can't make his arms release her. It is physically impossible for him to turn away from Kara and walk out those brig doors. Gods. He realizes in a flash that he's been a frakking idiot. And a liar. "Especially you," he said. But it wasn't true before. He did say no to her, too many times. 

Not this time. 

"Kara, I have to go-" Lee starts, and watches her face crumple further, her features pinching for just a split second before she recovers herself, sniffs and nods. 

"NO," he says, quickly, tipping her chin up. "I have to go find my father. I'm...I'm not going with Zarek. I'm not leaving you." 

Her eyes go wide and she starts to smile, he can see the corners of her mouth curling, but then Kara shakes her head. "You can't, Lee. You just said it, you've got a destiny to follow."

"I do," he says, and pulls her closer again. "Turns out I was just wrong about where it was leading me." 

"Where it's leading you?" she echoes, her voice a halting whisper. He reaches up to hold Kara's face in his hands, watches emotions slide across it like the shifting colors of a kaleidoscope, and Lee could swear he sees hope on Kara's face for the first time in...a very long time. 

It's good to be wrong. 

"To Earth." He answers and brushes his lips against hers. "To you." 

**_First Time for Everything_ **

She's not prepared the first time she sees him...after. Lee just brushes past, knocking into her shoulder, hard, but he doesn't meet her eyes for a second.

Kara stands in the middle of the tent city, gulping frigid New Caprican air. She has to lock her knees to keep herself from following him, bombarding him with questions, taunting him into forgiveness or punishment or...something. Anything more complicated than this. She doesn’t know how to do this. 

They’ve been so many things to one another over the years, but the one thing they’ve never been is strangers.

 

**_The Best Medicine_ **

Kara's been whining for twenty minutes and Lee's contemplating how much brig time he'd get for strangling his flight instructor. At least there it'd be quiet.

"Frakking Cottle! Can't cure a stupid sore throat!" 

"Gods, if you'd stop grousing, maybe it'd actually start to feel better,” he retorts, marching to her rack.

She pouts--actually pouts--up at him and curls into herself, muttering, “It just hurts, okay?”

Lee sighs, anger giving way to pity. Without thinking, he ducks down, presses his lips to her throat. 

“What’re you doing?” Kara squeaks, surprised.

“Kissing it better.”

 

**_Worth It_ **

Lee pulled Kara close, lips at her temple. "Hey, it'll be okay," he murmured, despite his own roiling stomach. It had to be. "Just trust me, alright?"

Her eyes shined wetly, but she hissed, "Gods, you're unreal," and jerked back, staring in horror. "You're serious about this. You really think it's gonna be that easy."

"No," he said soberly. "Of course not." 

Lee wasn't an idiot. He knew Zak would probably never forgive him. "I know it's not going to be easy, Kara." He cupped her face in his hands, meaning every word. "But it's going to be worth it."

 

**_Second Chance_ **

Lee won't let go this time.

Not even when the marines grab his arms to peel him away, restrain him. Dimly, he's aware of his father glowering down like Zeus on high, of Anders frozen a step away, of the crowd staring at them twined and clinging in the middle of the hangar.

But all he's truly conscious of is the familiar weight of Kara's body, the unique scent of her skin, the particular timbre of her voice in his ear as she murmurs comfort. "It's okay, me too."

Relief floods him. Maybe she won't let go this time either.

 

**_Secrets_ **

There wasn't much need for Dee to do laundry on Pegasus, with its housekeeping staff. But it made her feel useful, which was both rare and welcome nowadays. 

She grabbed dirty clothes from Lee's locker, then noticed one more item at the back. A tank--too small for Lee and not Dee's. Shaking it out, the scent of tobacco, motor oil, and a sweeter perfume filled her nose. 

Dee froze, recognizing it instantly. Slowly, her glance slid to her own locker, where a debate club ring nestled in a pair of old socks. 

She tossed it back. They all had secrets.

 

**_The Badge of His Failures_ **

Every time he walks into the bunkroom his eyes are drawn to it, like a frakking magnet. The pyramid ball has been taunting him ever since the night before Kara took down Scar, when they'd almost...

Lee blinks away the image of her face, as she'd leaned over and kissed him in the rec room. Blinks away the feel of her skin, smooth under his hands. Blinks away the memory of her body stretched under his on the table, her lips red and swollen from his kisses.

Blinks away the echo of her words...

_There is no us! There is nothing here, do you get that?_

_I am hung up on a dead guy!_

Lee can still hear the anguish, the broken defeat in her voice, when she'd choked out the words _Samuel's dead_.

He scowls. She may have said that, but clearly she doesn't believe it. Kara's been appealing to his father and the President for weeks now to clear a rescue mission back to Caprica. Just an hour ago, Laura had asked him what he thought of Kara's plan, and Lee had argued passionately against it, citing the exorbitant number of jumps it would take, the riskiness it would require, the waste of fuel it would be for the number of survivors that would probably be left by the time they got back there. The President had only smiled enigmatically when he was finished, and thanked him for his thoughts. 

He turns forcibly away from her bunk, jerks his dress blues off and slips on tanks and shorts. Lee grabs his gloves and mouthpiece, slings them into his gym bag, then slams his locker shut. He's tense, and blowing a little speed off with the heavy bag is just what he needs. 

But he has to pass her rack again on the way out and there the pyramid ball sits, taunting him like a visible badge of his failures. Of course she chooses a frakking pyramid star stuck light years away over him. When has he ever come first with Kara?

Tension surges through his body and suddenly he changes direction, stalks over to her bunk and grabs the ball. He shoves it into his bag before he can re-think it, and stalks out of the hatch. On the way to the gym, he makes a detour.

Five minutes later, he presses the button for the airlock and smiles grimly, as a small round ball gets swallowed by the darkness of space.

 

**_Sweet Dreams_ **

Lee was having a good dream

A very good dream. 

He awoke with a start, realizing he suddenly had company in his narrow bunk. Someone loomed over him, a knee digging into his ribs on either side of his torso. It was too dark to see with the curtain closed and his hands rose instinctively to push the intruder off, fingers sinking into soft curves.

A breath hissed out into the dark and strong hands wrapped around his wrists, prying his hands free and pinning them next to his head on the mattress. The movement brought his visitor closer and though his body already knew it (and was reacting accordingly, unfortunately) his voice still came out as a surprised whisper.

“Kara?”

“Shhh!” Warm breath rushed over his face as she bent to him, grinning wide enough that he could see the white of her teeth even in the darkness. “I’m hiding!”

Several questions immediately popped to mind, but he started with the most expedient one. “In my rack?”

Blonde hair swished over his cheek as she nodded. “Pretty smart, right? Who’s gonna disturb the CAG when he’s sleeping?”

“Other than you,” Lee grumbled, shifting uncomfortably. Kara let go of his wrists. “Who are you hiding from anyway?”

“Helo. Couldn’t sleep, gotta get up for CAP in a few hours anyway, so we’re playing Manhunt.” She shifted, sitting back, her body settling directly over his groin and Lee nearly groaned at the pressure. 

“Whoa, speaking of getting up…” 

He scowled. "Off. OUT!" 

She didn't move. Or actually, she did, undulating her hips slightly, rubbing herself against him. Lee bit back a groan, acutely aware of Kara's sparkling eyes locked on his, watching carefully like he was a science experiment she expected to bubble over. 

"Kara, gods," he hissed, voice tight and breaking, and she grinned widely, one eyebrow raising. 

"Frak Manhunt," she breathed suddenly, leaning down to him. "I can think of a much better game to play." And she covered her mouth with his, warm lips sliding his open, her tongue thrusting into his mouth. Shock flooded Lee, but it was swamped by arousal a second later and he lifted his arms, wrapped them around Kara.

Apparently, sometimes dreams did come true. 

 

**_Of Bingo Fuel and Boredom_ **

It's just her luck. 

She finally gets clearance to get back in the damn air, after weeks of being bored out of her godsdamn skull, and Lee grounds her with some spiel about a tylium shortage. 

Kara tosses her towel and pulls on her sports bra and skivvies, glaring at his back. Coward. He'd pretty much mumbled the bad news into his locker right after they'd got back from the head. And he still hasn't turned around. "This is bullshit. You just don't think I'm ready!" 

"Kara--" he sighs, rubbing his forehead.

"No! My knee is fine, Lee. Cottle made me do all those strength tests a million frakking times. I'm telling you I can handle it!"

Lee's eyes flash, as he steps closer. "And I'm telling you, it's not a conspiracy against you, Kara, it's the shortage!" He shakes his head. "I can only afford to run CAP with one squadron at a time, and you'll get up there, I swear, just have a little patience, alright?"

Her lips pooch out in a pout, even as her anger deflates. "If I wanted to have patients, I would've been a doctor not a fighter pilot," Kara half-jokes half-grumbles, even as her expression shifts. Her head tilts and she raises one eyebrow.

"What?" Lee asks, his expression unconsciously morphing to mirror hers. 

Kara props her hands on her hips. "I don't believe you." 

Lee groans. "Are you kidding me?"

"Nope," she says, "I don't believe you believe me. That I'm healed," she clarifies, her tongue skimming over her lips.  
"Clearly I'm gonna have to show you I'm telling the truth."

"Look, Kara, if Cottle gave you the go-ahead, I'm sure your knee--" he stops talking when she reaches out and lays a hand on his hip, tucking two fingers under the edge of the towel he's still wearing. Lee's eyes pop wide. "What are you doing?"

"Well you just said we've got all this time on our hands," she says, as her knuckles press harder into his hip and Lee steps back. Kara leans closer, almost nose to nose with him now. "So I figured," her fingers clench and she tugs Lee's towel off, "I could show you," she lifts her hand, the cloth dangling from her fingers for just a second before she spills it to the floor, "just how strong my knee is now." And with that, Kara drops down on it, and leans in, to run her tongue up his thigh.

She hears Lee make a long whistling exhaling sound, and grins as she shifts and takes him into her mouth, her hands drifting up to squeeze his ass. 

The fleet might be on bingo fuel, but Kara's got plenty to spare. Maybe being grounded won't be so boring after all.

 

**_Standing Ground_ **

"It's too frakking late." Grief contorts his face, sharp lines creasing his brow and bracketing his mouth. 

Lee turns away, rubbing a hand over his face, and sags back down on the couch, his head bowing as he stares at the low coffee table. Kara blinks at the set of small metal jacks there, wondering where the hell they came from, but the thought fades quickly from her still-reeling brain, her attention fixing on Lee again when a strangled sob escapes him.

Her first instinct, as per usual, is to run. 

The idea of her comforting him over the death of his wife, of all people, holds a sardonic irony, considering. She probably shouldn't even be here. Should leave him in peace with his memories.

But Kara's never done what she should when it comes to Lee Adama. 

Besides, she can't leave him now, can't even tear her eyes away. He looks broken, small even, in his pin-striped suit, the confident leader who just a few hours ago brokered a truce to save humanity gone like someone frakking wiped him out with one of the dry-board's erasers. 

Bereft and frozen, Kara hesitates. She doesn't know how to fix this even though she does want desperately to fix him. All her natural instincts--to flee, to deflect, to distract with a joke--seem wrong. For a second she almost smirks, as she imagines herself saying, "Hey, you think that's bad, guess who just found her godsdamned corpse on Earth?" 

The thought sours immediately. It's not very funny as far as jokes go, and as for any competition with Dee, well...it's over now. But the thought sticks stubbornly in her mind and Kara wonders if this is how it was when she was...gone. Did he mourn her like this? Was his grief less or more? 

A shudder runs through Lee, and his shoulders shift, and in the end, Kara just walks over to his side, and reaches out, her hand falling to his still-bowed head. Her fingers tremble slightly as she strokes his hair, soft strands brushing over her skin.

Time passes and she stands, her touch smoothing the unruly strands back from Lee's forehead, drifting down to where the ends curl softly, so much longer now, against the nape of his neck. Eventually he turns, pressing his face against her stomach, hands clutching at her waist. Kara wraps her other arm around his shoulders, hugging him to her, even as her fingers keep stroking his hair.

Time passes and she stands. 

 

**_A Moment of Truth_ **

On the screen, the military captain moves closer to the spirited blonde with whom he's inexplicably fallen in love. "You can't marry someone when you're in love with someone else," the man murmurs.

Lee refuses to look at Kara next to him. He won't. He's not. 

He does.

Her eyes are already on him, a question in them, as she toys with the silver engagement band on her thumb. Lee takes a deep breath, and looks past her, at his brother, who stares obliviously at the screen on Kara's other side. 

As the captain starts to sing about how he must have done something good in his youth or childhood, Kara shoots forward and snags the remote, clicking the TV off. 

"Hey, what's the--" Zak's voice breaks off as he watches Kara slide off the couch and twist around, perching on the edge of the coffee table to face both brothers. She pulls the band off her thumb and places it on the polished wooden surface next to the remote.

"We have to talk," she says quietly, and her eyes shift to Lee. 

His heart is beating triple-time at her words, so hard he thinks it might burst out of his chest. They didn't plan this. But the guilt has been eating at him, at both of them, since that first night. And all the other stolen moments since. They love Zak and don't want to hurt him, but they can't keep their hands off each other. And it's not just lust. This thing, this crazy unspeakable electric thing between them, it's only gotten more intense with every passing day. He hasn't said the words out loud yet, because he's pretty sure Kara's not ready to hear them, but he knows it's love. 

Kara's waiting, still looking towards him, and Zak turns too now, confusion on his face. Lee's heart clenches in fear and anticipation, but he nods, a stiff slight shake of his head, and his eyes hold Kara's. Slowly, she reaches forward, picks up his hand and laces her fingers through his. Lee's eyes flutter shut for a second and then he turns to his brother. He feels Kara's hand squeezing his, giving him strength to say the words. 

"Zak, we have something to tell you."

 

**_Apollo and Aurora_ **

For the first time in years, he is flying.

Or at least, Lee thinks he's flying. He's in the clouds again anyway, that much he knows. It's been so long. But the sky is blue and there's a bright sun shining on him and he wonders what happened to the dark of space. 

But that's not right. Because his brain is suddenly telling him Galactica's been gone for years. For a moment, Lee loses all sense of time and place. After Galactica, there was Earth, he knows...or was it Kobol? His pulse races and his brain is fuzzy suddenly, like a picture that just won't come into focus, and he is alarmed. 

Then he looks down and realizes he's not in a flight suit. More troubling still, he's not in a viper. Lee pushes back the sense of panic, and tries to focus. He seems to be in some sort of cart or carriage. A horse whinnies nearby and Lee looks up with shocked eyes to find a pair of stallions before him. The horses rear up suddenly in their harnesses and a familiar voice drifts to him. 

"Come on, Apollo!" his head turns and his breath catches as he sees her face. It is not fuzzy, but distinct for once and achingly familiar. She's smirking, eyes wide and expectant, and she rolls them as he watches, her head tilting slightly. "We've been waiting for you," she chides, more gently than he's used to, and turns to a set of gates. She pushes them open and waits on the other side, beckoning him forward with pink-tipped fingers. He follows the line of her arm to her shoulder, bare and round and gleaming in the sunlight--and brushed by the feathery tips of a pair of enormous wings. Lee blinks. Those are new. 

She catches him looking, like always, and winks, then turns her back to him and shifts her shoulders so the wings waggle. He laughs and Kara does too, the sound streaming back to him on the wind as she leads the way. 

He follows. 

 

**Bonus Crack!fic:  
_Hey! This Isn't the Algae Planet!_**

On the scouting mission, Racetrack rubs her eyes, wondering if she's finally lost her godsdamned mind. 

How else to explain the chocolate waterfall looming before her? 

Or Chief Tyrol kneeling at the riverbank, gulping down mouthfuls of the rich liquid? 

Or Gaius Baltar in a purple velvet suit, singing to himself and wobbling around on Starbuck’s old cane? 

Resigning herself to the madness, Racetrack plucks an oversized jellybean off a tree. She’s just about to bite into it when suddenly Galactica’s claxons sound. 

_That’s it_ , she thinks, blinking awake in her rack. _Let someone else discover the next frakking planet!_


End file.
